“A course or method of action selected among alternatives that guides present and future decisions”
“A decision coupled with the authority to act on it”
What is policy?
What is policy?
Policy actions can include:
legislation
regulation
coordination
motivation
Ultimately, policies can provide incentives to align the interests of biodiversity and human societies
What is policy?
Incentive: something that motivates or encourages particular behavior
Make it easier for states to establish land as a preserve or make it harder for companies to pollute or emit CO2
Perverse incentive: unintended or undesirable results contrary to initial motivation
Classic examples of perverse incentives:
French colonial government in Honoi paying locals to exterminate rats →
led to the farming of rats and increased rat problem
Carbon credits grant nations the right to emit gases that contribute to global warming. Developed nations are able to earn carbon credits by investing in emissions-reduction projects →
For greenhouse gases trifluoromethane and sulfur hexafluoride, the value of the credits obtained can exceed the cost of destroying these gases in the production process, creating a ‘perverse’ incentive to increase production so that credits can be claimed.
What is policy?
Let’s examine examples of policy to protect biodiversity and their incentive structures
Endangered Species Act
One of the most important pieces of legislation on biodiversity in the US
The Endangered Species Act (1973): “The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend”
Endangered Species Act
One of the most important pieces of legislation on biodiversity in the US
The ESA also interfaces with the 175-nation agreement to prevent species extinctions due to international trade
CITES:
C.onvention on I.nternational T.rade
in E.ndangered S.pecies
of Wild Fauna and Flora
Endangered Species Act
One of the most important pieces of legislation on biodiversity in the US
There are > 2,200 species listed as endangered or threatened in the US
In total there have been 94 species de-listed
62 due to recovery
11 due to extinction
21 due to “original data in error”
Endangered Species Act is powerful but complicated
What incentive structure does the ESA establish?
What are some perverse incentives that the ESA might unintentionally establish?
Endangered Species Act is powerful but complicated
What incentive structure does the ESA establish?
What are some perverse incentives that the ESA might unintentionally establish?
- Pre-emptive habitat destruction (to prevent endangered species from establishing, e.g., harvesting trees early so they don’t become old enough to become suitable habitat)
- Direct removal of endangered species (to prevent government from imposing restrictions on the land, e.g., “shoot, shovel and shut up”)
- Increased harvest of endangered species to make money off their rarity
- Focus on individual species instead of ecosystem
Beyond the Endangered Species Act
There is a perverse incentives structure implicit in much of our economic system
In the extreme… perverse business ideas like:
Even in less extreme examples, there is a perverse incentive simply because we do not pay for the actual value of the ecosystem services we use.
Motivation
How can we motivate individuals, collectives, and policy makers to make more sustainable choices?
Motivation - Policy consequences are more than just $$$
Externality: A consequence (positive or negative) of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved.
Often discussed in financial terms, but also deep humanitarian and environmental justice concerns
Motivation - Increase community buy-in
Example, large West Virginia landowners get a monetary incentive for planning adjacent conservation easements
Motivation - Increase community buy-in
Another example: conservationists, scientists, rice farmers, and the public joining together to protect migratory shorebirds
Bigger picture change
Many of the examples we have discussed so far assume a political-social-economic system that is similar to what we have today.
But what if we (as individuals and societies) shifted some of the underlying assumptions?
What might be possible then?
Bigger picture change: Financial wealth
Bigger picture change: Financial wealth, wealth inequity
Financial wealth, wealth inequity, and impacts
Bigger picture change
Systemic commitment to ecological health…carbon neutrality
Bigger picture change
Systemic commitment to health… reconciliation ecology
Designing new habitats for other species in the midst of where people live and work…
in the age of the Anthropocene
Bigger picture change
Systemic commitment to ecological health… alternate measures of prosperity
1972 king of Bhutan: “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product”
GNH instituted as the goal in the Constitution of Bhutan in 2008
The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing
Closing: Environmental worldviews
What if it’s not your job to save the world?
We live inside of – and become - the stories we tell ourselves
Closing: Let’s avoid tired stories
The environment is there to use for human gain…(sigh)
Growth is good…(sigh)
We can fix problems primarily with technology…(sigh)
New and creative responses are needed to promote a Life-Sustaining Society → action must come from a deeper cultural shift
We are not separate or separable from each other, other life forms, and the Earth
